Can you do the Cover Girl dance? Lena Dunham and Hamish Bowles star in short film imagining actress's night before THAT Vogue shoot

'The cover shoot is happening tomorrow and I don't know how to pose!' an exasperated Lena Dunham yells nervously at Vogue's Hamish Bowles through the phone.

Proving that your very first Vogue shoot is far from easy, the Girls creator and the magazine's editor-at-large star in an endearing short film, released today, that reveals just how she came to be yanking her polka-dot collar away from her neck on this month's cover.

After learning that the 27-year-old actress was taking inspiration from
'candids of Anna Nicole Smith and a Maxim cover from Pakistan', Mr Bowles, armed with references from supermodels past and present, promptly gives the pajama-clad Miss Dunham a perfectly performed lesson in posing.

Scroll down for video

Lena Dunham and Vogue's editor-at-large Hamish Bowles star in an endearing short film that imagines the Girls star's night before her Vogue cover shoot

Choreographed by Celia Rowlson-Hall (who also put together a dance for Miss Dunham in upcoming Girls episode), the short film takes the dancing duo through 50 years of iconic images -- Lauren Hutton, Veruschka and the 'pigeon-toed and goofy' Twiggy all make appearances.

'Vogue gave me a whole slew of
images to sift through,' Ms Rowlson-Hall told MailOnline. 'I chose the most striking images; I wanted to
pick the classic and iconic models, as well as the strongest poses.'

After learning that the 27-year-old actress was taking inspiration from 'a Maxim cover from Pakistan', Mr Bowles promptly gives the pajama-clad Miss Dunham a perfectly performed lesson in posing

Choreographed by Celia Rowlson Hall, the short film takes the dancing duo through 50 years of iconic poses -- Lauren Hutton, Veruschka and the 'pigeon-toed and goofy' Twiggy all make appearances

Once her selections were approved, the 29-year-old dancer transformed them into a captivating sequence that Miss Dunham and Mr Bowles both act out with panache.

'They had one practice session each before they came together the day of the shoot, where we had a little time to rehearse,' she recalled, adding that she did give the pair some homework beforehand.

'Because Hamish is teaching Lena in the film, I made
them a video of me doing the dance, yelling out the poses as I was going so they could practice; it's as much verbal as it is physical.'

x

Ms Rowlson Hall transformed a selection of iconic poses into a captivating sequence that Miss Dunham and Mr Bowles both act out with panache

'Lena is game for everything,' said Ms Rowlson Hall. 'She's full of energy and full of life. I'm giggling the whole time I'm with her; off and on camera she's one of the funniest people I've ever met'

So how did Miss Dunham do?

'Lena is game for everything,' said Ms Rowlson-Hall. 'She's full of energy and full of life. I'm giggling the whole time I'm with her; off
and on camera she's one of the funniest people I've ever met.'

As the actress says before the short film fades out: 'I think I'm starting to get the hang of this.'

Miss Dunham appears in her very own striking pose for Vogue's February cover shot by Annie Leibovitz

Advertisement

Share or comment on this article:

Lena Dunham and Hamish Bowles star in short film on night before Vogue shoot